Minister of Education and Science of Tajikistan, Nuriddin Said, responded to criticisms addressed to his name on the Internet. This was reported by Central Asia News Service.

In social networks, the Education Minister was criticized for not knowing Russian very well. Nuriddin Said's video clips from the press conference where he answered journalists' questions in Russian, were distributed into social media. Internet users watched the video and demanded the resignation of the Minister of Education.

There were also defenders of Minister Education. They noted that civil servants, firstly, should know Tajik language and they are not obliged to know the other language.

However, Nuriddin Said claims that he knows Russian very well.
"Of course, I'm not Tolstoy or Solzhenitsyn. But I know Russian. I can speak Russian fluently. I make the report in the Russian language. I prepared two doctors and eight candidates in this language. After this, do you accuse me of not knowing Russian? ... Yes, I have an accent. But not only me, many people have", - told the Minister of Education of Tajikistan.

As stated by Said, many Russians do not speak Tajik. In Tajikistan, Russian language has no status. It is only a language of international communication.

Translated by Nazerke Syundyukova

“The Qazaq Times”